


Gone Fishin'

by shutupimshakira (Sniperdoodle)



Series: Byleth Joins Smash House [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Super Smash Brothers
Genre: F/F, Fishing, Hijinks & Shenanigans, and too much sea bass, i will finally admit that this is crack, just some fun fishing times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24774505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sniperdoodle/pseuds/shutupimshakira
Summary: Edelgard felt hesitant for some reason, to call the competitors in the Smash Tournament Byleth’s “friends”. It was strange, she shouldn’t, but there’s a little pot of jealousy starting to boil at the pit of her stomach, “What are you going to do?”“Fish in the pond,” Byleth answers. “We’ll try not to disturb anyone.”
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Byleth Joins Smash House [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782202
Comments: 7
Kudos: 103





	Gone Fishin'

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! And I will admit that this whole series is just gonna be some fun goofems (for the most part . . .) ((though you should probably read the first entry into the series to understand what's going on))
> 
> Some notes: I actually haven't played the majority of the games that are connected to Smash. So, Link here is based off of BotW Link because that's the only LoZ game I've played, and I've only played Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so don't beat me up if I get anything wrong. 
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy!

“Your . . . friends are coming over?” 

Edelgard felt hesitant for some reason, to call the competitors in the Smash Tournament Byleth’s “friends”. It was strange, she shouldn’t, but there’s a little pot of jealousy starting to boil at the pit of her stomach. 

Byleth looks up from the ‘cell phone’. Within the first few weeks of participating in the tournament, she had learned how to use it (and taught Edelgard how to use it as well). She still jabs at the screen with her fingers a little too forcefully. Byleth asks, “Is that alright?”

“I . . . suppose,” Edelgard says, trying to hide her conflicting emotions. “What are you going to do?”

“Fish in the pond,” Byleth answers. “We’ll try not to disturb anyone.”

“How many?”

“Just Link and the Villager,” Byleth says. “And its Regular Link, not ‘Toon’ Link or ‘Young’ Link.”

Byleth had tried to explain the difference between Link, Young Link, and Toon Link. It had to do with alternative timelines. Despite her best efforts, Edelgard is still confused. 

“Let Hubert know,” Edelgard says. “I don’t want him trying to stab your . . . guests because he thought they were intruders.”

“That would be bad,” Byleth agrees. 

The two finish tea and Edelgard gets back to work. She finds herself distracted, looking down to the pond at the center of the gardens. She chose to make her office here for that reason, so she could watch Byleth while she fishes. The sight usually puts her at peace, but today she can’t find comfort in it. 

“Lady Edelgard,” Hubert interrupts her thoughts. “You seem distracted today.”

“I’m fine,” Edelgard insists. “Has Byleth’s . . . acquaintances appeared yet?” 

Hubert glances out the window, “They’re here now,”

Edelgard’s head snaps to the window. Walking down to the dock is Byleth, trailed by two others. One is a young, blonde man in a blue tunic. He’s carrying a variety of weapons, and none of them look like a fishing rod. The second is shorter and actually, they may be a child? They run beside Byleth, fishing rod in hand and arms stretched out behind their back. 

“They certainly are . . . curious,” Hubert says. 

“Yes. Curious,” Edelgard huffs and turns back to her paperwork. 

Hubert stares at her, and she knows he’s looking at her. She will not give him anything, so she just gets to work.

Despite having done very little work since tea time Edelgard races through the rest of her paperwork and gets done earlier than usual. 

She sets her quill down and stares out the window. Byleth and her . . . allies are still fishing. Hubert enters the office at the same time, “Your Majesty, the Professor would like to know if you would like to meet her friends, if you’re not too busy.”

Edelgard winces at the mention of ‘friends’. She sighs, “I’ve just finished.”

“Really?” Hubert looks over her desk. 

“I suppose I was . . . motivated,” Edelgard stands up. “Let us head down to the pond, shall we?”

Hubert bows and follows her. She marches through the halls, keeping a brisk pace and her spine straight as a board. Some of the staff flinch as she walks past them. 

Once at the gardens, Hubert pauses her, “Lady Edelgard, remember that these are Byleth’s friends.”

“I know Hubert, are you implying something?” she counters. 

“No,” Hubert says. “But you’ve seemed . . . off, since tea time.” 

“I’m fine,” Edelgard insists. “Let’s continue.”

As they approach the pond, the only ones that are actually fishing are Byleth and the small one. The blonde man is standing next to them, a pile of weapons behind him, and staring into the water. 

Byleth turns around, hearing them approach, and smiles as she calls out, “El!”

Edelgard softens a bit, hearing the genuine joy in her beloved’s voice. However, she’s brought back to reality as the short one reels in a fish.

A large fish flies out of the water and into the short one’s hands. They display it for a moment, Byleth and the blonde man politely clap, before they throw it in a bucket. They immediately return to fishing. 

Byleth jumps up and runs to Edelgard’s side. She takes her hand and kisses it while saying, “El. I’m glad you could come down.”

“Anything for you my light,” Edelgard says. She looks over Byleth’s shoulder and the blonde man is now holding a spear, for some reason. She clears her throat, “Would you like to introduce me to your . . . friends?”

Byleth nods energetically. She leads Edelgard to the end of the dock, “El, this is Villager and Link. Villager, Link, this is my fiancé Edelgard.”

“Emperor Edelgard von Hresvelg,” Hubert corrects, standing a few feet away. 

“Hiya!” the Villager says with a smile. “Nice to meet ya!”

Link just nods. Byleth leans in and explains, “He doesn’t talk much.”

That’s saying something, coming from Byleth. Edelgard takes it in stride, “I’m glad to meet Byleth’s . . . new friends.”

“I’ve been wanting to meet you too!” Villager says. “Byleth talks about you a lot.”

Link nods.

“You do?” Edelgard asks. 

“Yeah,” Byleth admits, rubbing the back of her head with her free hand. “It’s because I like you a lot.”

Edelgard strokes Byleth’s hand with her thumb, “That’s an acceptable answer. For the record I like you a lot too.”

The moment is disrupted when Link throws the spear into the pond. There’s a large splash, but when he drags it out there’s a fish impaled at the end. Villager claps as Link pulls the fish off and tosses it into a bucket. 

“That’s an . . . interesting way to fish,” Edelgard comments. 

“He was using his sword earlier,” Byleth adds. “He almost threw a bomb in, but I didn’t want him to kill all the fish first thing.”

“O-oh.”

Villager reels in another fish, the same large green fish as before. As they present it, they angrily shout, “SON OF A BASS!”

“Another sea bass?” Byleth asks. 

“Yeah,” Villager sighs, and they deposit the fish in the bucket. 

“Sea bass?” Edelgard questions. “What is a saltwater fish doing in a freshwater pond?”

Byleth and Villager shrug. The latter suggests, “Invasive species?”

The conversation is interrupted as Link dives into the pond. There's a bunch of splashing and limbs flailing in the waves. Edelgard is worried that he might be drowning, but no one moves. The water calms as Link climbs back onto the dock, fish in hands. 

“Did you . . . just catch a fish with your hands?” Byleth asks. 

Link nods. 

Byleth’s eyes sparkle, “I want to do that.”

“Byleth, I don’t think-” Edelgard tries to appeal to her fiancée’s more rational thoughts, but she’s already running to the edge of the docks and diving in. Link joins her shortly. 

Edelgard signs and stalks to the front of the docks, next to Hubert. He says, “Shall I send for the staff to bring towels, your Majesty?”

“Please,” Edelgard rubs her forehead, trying to will off an impending headache. 

“At once, Lady Edelgard,” Hubert says with a bow.

As Hubert disappears, Villager approaches her, “Wowie, your friend’s kinda scary.”

Edelgard forces a soft smile, “He can be when he wants.”

“I have a friend like that in my town,” Villager says. “His name’s Pietro. He can be scary.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He’s a clown.”

“Oh.” 

An awkward silence settles. The Villager rocks back and forth on their feet. They finally burst, “Byleth said that you were like a mayor.”

“I am an Emperor,” Edelgard corrects. “I am the leader of the Adrestrian Empire and a United Fodlan.”

“So . . . like a mayor.”

Edelgard sighs, “Yes. Like a mayor, I suppose.” 

“Cool!” Villager jumps up, stretching their arms out. “I’m a Mayor too! In my world, I run a town called New Leaf!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! It’s a lot of hard work, but I love the people in my village and being able to help them,” Villager says. “But you probably understand.”

Edelgard thinks of the long days filled with paperwork and the dark days of war. She remembers the citizens of the Empire and beyond, crestless and poor, who would have been trapped under the thumb of the Church for their entire life. Her mind wanders to her friends, some who have risen up even further without the restrictions of nobility and crests plaguing their life. She thinks of Byleth. 

“I do,” Edelgard says. “What . . . is your village like? And your friends?”

Villager lights up, “My town is really pretty! I’ve finished fixing up the rundown building with help from Mr. Nook. I planted a bunch of flowers, but a lot of the Villagers kept walking on them so I put up some fences. Oh! And I just donated the last fossil to the museum! Blathers was so happy!”

“That sounds . . . peaceful,” Edelgard sighs. “What about paperwork?”

Villager’s face skews, “Paperwork? I never had to do paperwork. I think Isabella does that. Do you hafta do paperwork?”

“Sadly,” Edelgard says. 

“You should get yourself an Isabelle,” Villager says. They look out at the gardens “Also, I love your flowers! You must have spent a lot of time planting these.”

“I didn’t plant those,” Edelgard says. 

“You didn’t!?” Villager gasps. “Who did?”

“Byleth planted some, but she tends to stay in the greenhouse. I have gardeners on staff who primarily care for the gardens,” Edelgard explains. 

“Oh wow!” Villager says. “That sounds cool, but I’d miss gardening.”

“If I had the time, I would ask Byleth to teach me how to garden and fish,” Edelgard admits. “But I’m just too busy.”

“I bet it’s all that paperwork, you gotta get yourself an Isabelle.”

“I’ll look into it.”

“And you gotta take breaks,” Villager continues. “Sometimes, I’ll just spend a whole day rearranging my house, I don’t bother to leave.”

“That sounds lovely,” Edelgard wishes she had time to do something as pointless as rearrange the furniture in her bedroom. Sadly, her time is too precious to spend on trivial matters, “You’re very lucky. I don’t have that luxury right now.”

“Oh uh . . . that’s a bit . . . sad,” Village frowns. They bounce on their feet before asking, “Have you . . . ever wanted to get away from it all?”

Edelgard pauses. She had said that the Imperial line ends with her, but it was because she thought she would die before she could. But she doesn’t want to be stuck in the palace all her life. She doesn’t want to keep Byleth trapped here. She’s been dangerously dreaming of a life beyond rebuilding Fodlan. Just her, Byleth, two cats, a yard, and maybe a small family. It seems so far away. 

“I do,” Edelgard admits, swallowing a lump in her throat. “Everyday.”

Villager lets out a sigh, “Me too.”

“Really?” Edelgard asks. “But your town seems so nice.”

“It is but . . . sometimes you just want a fresh start,” Villager shrugs. “I’ve done all I can with my Village. I don’t know what else to do. I want something new.”

“I’d like something . . . less stressful,” Edelgard adds. “And peaceful.”

“I just wanna start over,” Villager admits. “Mr. Nook agrees. He’s working on something like that, where we can just . . . get away to new horizons.”

“New horizons . . . I’d like to find some as well, someday,” Edelgard agrees. “Once I’m done with everything I have to do.”

Byleth surfaces from the pond, raising a fish in her hand triumphantly above her head. She pulls herself onto the dock, soaking wet, and declaring, “Look El! I caught a fish with my hands!”

Edelgard laughs as Villager claps, “Good job, my light!” 

“Wait, hold on!” Villager runs up to inspect the fish. “It’s a sea bass!”

Byleth stares at the fish before muttering under her breath, “Son of a bass.”

Villager laughs as Link rejoins them; a fish clenched firmly in his teeth. He spits it out into his bucket. 

Byleth narrows her eyes, “Did you catch that fish . . . with your _teeth_?” 

Link nods. 

Byleth dives back into the pond. 

Hubert sighs as he returns, carrying a pile of towels, “She’s not done.”

“No, but let her have her fun with her friends,” Edelgard says. 

Maybe Byleth’s new friends aren’t all that bad. She goes to join Villager at the edge of the dock, to watch Byleth and Link try to catch more fish with their teeth. She has more work to do tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, but she isn't going to worry about it right now. Right now, she’s fine with dreaming of new horizons.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank-you for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, and I'll have a new installation into the series next week!
> 
> Preview: A powerful rat . . . named Charles. Entertainment. Cheese.


End file.
